President arrives at the US Open final; the match is delayed thirty minutes and the stadium is ten percent full when he waves.

Pay attention. Sunday afternoon. US Open final. Carlos Alcaraz versus Jannik Sinner. Two of the best three players on the planet, in the same stadium, on the second-biggest tennis stage of the year. People paid good money to be in those seats. We are talking thousands of dollars per ticket on the resale.

The President of the United States decided to attend. Sat in the Rolex box. Came at the invitation of Rolex, the Swiss watch company. Already a flex.

Buddy. Three problems. Three.

Problem one. The match was scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Eastern. It started at 2:30. The half-hour delay was, per the USTA’s own statement, because of the security measures required for the President of the United States to be in the box. People were stuck in screening lines outside the stadium. People who paid for those tickets missed the start of the match they paid to see.

Problem two. When the President was finally shown on the jumbotron during the national anthem and stood up to wave, the stadium was, per pool reporting, about ten percent full. The other ninety percent were still in line. The ten percent that were in their seats booed. On a hot mic. On three networks.

Problem three. The USTA had asked the broadcasters, in writing, to mute the crowd reaction if the crowd reacted poorly. ABC’s audio mix picked up the boos anyway. Then the White House said it had not asked for the muting. Then the USTA said it had requested it on its own. Then everybody said we did not coordinate this, which is, in my professional experience, what people say when they coordinated something.

I have been arguing with televisions for thirty years. I have been to a Cherry Hill 7-Eleven where the security screening was lighter. I have been to a casino fire drill where the wait was shorter. The man went to a tennis match and held it up by thirty minutes, and ten percent of the stadium still managed to find him over the cameras and boo at him.

Alcaraz won. The trophy ceremony went on. The President had left.

I’m arguing with the television. The television is on a thirty-second delay.